Improvement in bottle-filling apparatus



UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

WILLIAM GEE, OF NEW YORK, N'. Y.

'IMPROVEMENT IN BOTTLE-Fiume APPARATUS. l

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 184,608, dated November 21, 1876; application iled October 4, 1876.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GEE, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Filling Bottles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,

reference being had lto the accompzmying drawing, which forms part of this specitication.

This invention more particularly relates to apparatus for filling, with aerated or eii'ervescing liquids, bottles having what are termed self-closing Stoppers-that is, inside Stoppers, which are held up to the mouths of the bottles, or otherwise made to close said mouths, by the pressure of airv or gas within the bottles.

In carrying out my invention I use a fillinghead which. like the iilling-heads employed for bottling aerated liquids in bottles closed mechanically by forcible entry from thel exterior of a cork into their mouths,-has a filling-chamber that serves alike for the ingress of the water or liquid, and -for the escape of air and surplus gas in tilling, and renders unnecessary the projection into the bottle of a separate iilling-tube and a separate air-tube.

The invention consists in the combination, with such a tilling-chambcr, of a valve constructed and arranged not only to regulate the pressure of the liquid in the bottle, and escape of surplus gas and air from the bottle, but also to act as arelief-valvefor surplus liquid from said filling-chamber when the bottle is'lled, and so facilitate the filling operation, by removing outside pressure from an inside stopper, for closing ot' the bottle by such a stopper.

The invention also consists in the combination ofa rocking or tumbling illing-head, having a chamber or cavity that serves alike for the ingress of the water or liquid, and for the escape of air and surplus gas, a pressure-regulating valve constructed to operate also as a relief-valve, and a cam or' means for automatically opening said relief-valve as the fillinghead is rocked for the purpose, and for the closing of the bottle by the stopper.

The invention also consists in the combination ofa removable fulcrum with a-toothed bottle-lifting lever and rack-formed bottle llifter or holder, whereby said bottle-lifter may be readily adjusted to hold lbottles of different Vlengths up against the lling-head, and

'to remove them therefrom, without inconveny jiently changing the length o f stroke of the bottle lifter or holder.

Figure 1 represents a partly sectional frontA elevation ot' a bottling apparatus constructed in accordance with `my invention, applicable to the bottling of various aerated liquids; and;

Fig. 2, a mainly centrally sectional side view 4of the same in a plane at right angles to Fig. 1.

A is the iilling-head, which is fitted to rock in bearings. b b on an upright or frame, B. Ar-- ranged within said iilling-head is the chamber or cavity c, which serves alike for the ingress of the aerated water orliquid, and for the escape of air and surplus gas when filling the bottle O. a part of, or is in free communication with, the iilling-nozzle d, which receives the mouth of the bottle up within it when filling, the

bottle being held up to its place therein, as

shown in Fig. 1, by means of a rack-formed lifter, D, actuated by a toothed lever, E, that works on a removable fulcrum-pin, e. By withdrawing this pin, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and adjusting the toothed lever up or down, said lever, after the fulcrumpin has been again inserted, may be made to have the same range of motion in raising bot- -tles of different lengths up against or within the filling-nozzle, and in reversing the action of the lifter D to remove the bottles.

Any suitable inside closing-stopper may be used in the bottle C; but a ball-valve, f, as now commonly used, is preferred.

Thev water or liquid with which it is required to till the bottle is introduced to the chamber or cavity c by a duet, g, in the rocking filling-head A, and the air or surplus gas entering said chamber when :filling the 'bottle escapes by a vent, It, in a valve-box, i, mounted on the lilling-head, or forming part of said head. This-valve-box contains a pressureregulating valve, G, which controls the cornvmunication between the chamber or cavity c and the vent h. Said valve is formed with a stem, which passes freely through a stuftingbox, k, applied to the valve-box i.v Around this stem, and between the inner end of the This chamber or cavity c forms stuffing-box and the back of the valve G, is a spring, Z, that has a tendency to bear the valve down on its seat against the pressure ofthe gas in the lling liquid, said valve yielding, however, more or less to such pressure, to allow of the escape of air and surplus gas through the vent h when filling the bottle.`

By screwing or unscrewing the stalling-box k the pressure of `the spring is increased or diminished to regulate said valve, as required. The bottle holder` or lifter D is connected with the filling-head A by a frame, H, arranged on one side of said head, and swinging with the head when rocked in its bearings b b. On the opposite side of the filling-head is a counterbalance-lever, I, which serves to facilitate the rocking or turning` of said head with its attached frame.

. When lling a bottle the parts occupy the position shown in Fig. 1, with the frame H inclining downwardly, as arrestedby a stop, m, applied to the counterbalance-lever I. After the bottle has been iilled,n and when it is required to close the same, the frame H, by meins ofthe attached filling-head, is swung to occupy a raised position, as shown in Fig. 2. This change ot' position and movement of the bottle causes the stopper to close the lat" ter, and at the saule time it` brings a button or projection, u, on the stem of the valve G over a iixed cam, K, which causes said valve to be more fully opened than it was in filling the bottle, thereby allowing a free escape through the vent h for the surplus liquid in the lilling-chainber c and its attached fillingduct g, thus removing,lr pressure from the outside ot' the inside stopper, and so facilitating its closing action on the mouth of the bottle by pressure within the latter. The bottle having thus been fined and closed, the frame His swung backto its normal position,h(sho\vn in Fig. 1,) and the lifter D lowered to allow of the removal of the bottle.

I claim- 1. The combination, with the viilling4cham. ber c, serving both for ingress of liquid to the bottle and for the escape of air andsurplus gas, of a valve `applied-to said chamber for regulating pressure and escape of air land surplus gas, and for relieving said chamber of surplus liquid after the bottle is filled, whereby not only one and the saine valve `performs several functions, but the closingof the bottle by an inside stopper is facilitated, and` the projection of either a filling-tube or air-` escape tube withiu the bottle may-be`dis pensed with, substantiallyas specified 2. The combination, with a rocking ortum` bling filling-head, A, having a cavity, c, for the ingress ot' the aerated effervescing liquid and escape of the air and surplus gas, ot' a pressure-regulating valve,\G, constructed to operate also as a relief-valve for the overflow incidental to the llling and closing ot'-` the bottle, and the cam K, or means for automatically opening said valve, to act as a relief for overflow when the llinghead is adjusted to close the bottle by its stopper, essentially as described.

3. The combination of the `removablefulcrum-pin e with the toothed lever E and the bottle holder or lifter D, provided with a rack which gears with said lever, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

. WILLIAM GEE.

` Witnesses:

MicHAEL RYAN, FRED. HAYNEs. 

